One of Mike Tomlin’s favorite phrases is that his team won’t “live in their fears.”
But this season, Tomlin seems to be living in his fears more than anything.
During the Bills “smashing” of the Steelers on Sunday it was 4th and 5 on the Buffalo 15-yard-line with about 3:40 left before halftime down 24-3, kicker Chris Boswell attempted a field goal that missed.
On the last play of the third quarter, down 31-3, Boswell missed a 45-yard-field goal.
The Steelers were primed to go for it but a Dan Moore false start changed it from 4th and 8 to 4th and 13.
After the game said, “I want to be thoughtful aggressive, but I don’t want to be stupid.”
Even if the Steelers made both those field goals, it’s 31-9 going into the fourth quarter.
As Dorin Dickerson said on The Fan Morning Show Monday, Tomlin’s decision there to kick a field goal, “that makes absolutely no sense.”
When you’re down 21+ points to Josh Allen and a Bills offense that is scoring almost at will.
“This man lives in his fears more than anyone else, despite handing us that cliché’ ad-nauseam,” said Chris Mack. “That’s where you could see him start to roll it up. That’s where you could see the white flags come out.”
Being down by two touchdowns to the Bills isn’t ideal but it’s better than it being a three-score game going into the second half.
Colin Dunlap has said for a while now, that Tomlin has all the power and it feels like he isn’t talking with anyone else when it comes to big decisions.
“It’s okay to say, ‘maybe I need a hand here’,” said Dunlap on The Fan Morning Show Monday.
Tomlin also said he wouldn’t be grading quarterback Kenny Pickett on a curve, but he isn’t trusting his rookie to get a first down when they really need one.
“Stuff he says he doesn’t put into practice,” added Dunlap. “He doesn’t do it when it’s time to act.”